Things to do in London this weekend (November 14-15)

Every year, the EFG London Jazz Festival brings together the best and brightest of the genre in venues across the city. The 2026 line-up promises a bounty of bops, whether you’re looking to discover some of the most exciting new names in the genre (Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet, Sun Nov 15 at King’s Place) or witness some legends in action (Yasuaku Shimizu, Sun Nov 15 at Milton Court). There’ll be a series of special gigs dedicated to the greats, from a night celebrating the centenary of John Coltrane (Coltrane 100, Fri Nov 13 at the Barbican) to Dave Okumu’s genre-hopping exploration of his musical heroes (DVTN: Music that Changes the World, Sun Nov 15 at Union Chapel). And it’s not just jazz on offer; you can also catch everything from Portuguese fado and electroswing to trip-hop and drum and bass. 

The inaugural London edition of MUBI Fest is here. The art-house lover’s streaming service of choice is hosting its very own mini film festival at Hackney’s Picturehouse cinema offering you the chance to catch some of the distributor’s buzziest upcoming titles on the big screen ahead of their theatrical release, alongside a programme of indie classics worth revisiting. Highlights of the programme include Sandra Hüller’s stellar new period drama Rose, with director Markus Schleinzer in attendance for a Q&A (Fri Nov 13), World War I queer romance Coward (Sat Nov 14), with leads Valentin Campagne and Emmanuel Macchia answering questions afterwards, Andrew Haigh’s adaptation of a Colm Tóibín short story, A Long Winter (Sun Nov 15), and Paul Thomas Anderson’s concert doc capturing Cameron Winter’s 2025 solo show at Carnegie Hall (Sun Nov 15). 

Martin McDonagh unleashes another bittersweet hangout film about lonely, crumpled men facing up to mortality, dealing with the consequences of violence and chewing the fat to outlandishly funny effect. That fat is mostly chewed by John Malkovich. He’s Chris, a wolfish but ageing and increasingly forgetful CIA spook whose coup-organising and democracy-disrupting days may even have extended to supplying the rifle used to kill John F Kennedy 10 years earlier. His best (ie only) friend is Sam Rockwell’s Lee, a younger, slightly less jaded agent who nonetheless knows better than to trust a word their exasperated station chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi), tells them. Although it certainly has some barbed and topical things to say about the dark history of American intervention around the world, it’s best read as an alt-western about an ageing gunslinger reaching the end of the line and finding nothing much more than a body count to his name.

Anna Higham (previously at River Café and Flor) has opened a new café over the road from her acclaimed bakery Quince. Oozing with autumnal energy, but somehow not at all twee, this nook on New North Road feels as if Gilmore Girls was reincarnated as a produce-led Islington breakfast spot. Like its sister bakery, Clementine serves seasonal, hearty food. The breakfast menu – consisting of tattie scones, sausage sandwiches, country toast with butter and homemade jam and steaming porridge topped with molasses and cream – feels like the kind of warming fare a Scottish farmer might rustle up before a day in the fields. Could this be the cosiest brekkie in town? 

Tate Britain ends the year with an examination of the 50-year-long creative (and sometime romantic) relationship between Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. Featuring over 300 works, as well as a faithful restaging of Grant’s studio, relocated from the pair’s home in Sussex, it will explore the duo’s legacy as core members of the Bloomsbury Set, their commitment to freedom and self-expression, and the influence this had on British art, literature and society. 

Leong’s Legend has long been a mainstay for Taiwanese street food in the heart of Chinatown. Inside, you’ll find a lively buzz and the scent of steaming baskets drifting from the kitchen. Here, you can dive into a 90-minute dim sum marathon, with unlimited handmade pork buns, pork and prawn soup dumplings, and those much-talked-about ‘Supreme’ crabmeat xiao long bao all making an appearance, and a glass of prosecco too, for just £24.95 (or £29.50-£31.90 on weekends.) An absolute steal. 

Get up to 45% off with Time Out Offers.

In his first ever screen to stage adaptation, director Robert Icke has taken Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Oscar-winning 2006 film about a disgruntled Stasi spy and turned it into a big, slick, entertaining West End thriller starring Keira Knightley. It has a gutsy noir-ish sweep to it, defined aesthetically by thunderous use of the instrumental tracks and Hildegarde Bechtler’s elegant revolving house set. It has a compelling story, given real tension by Icke’s assured, pacey direction. Knightley is a good fit with her role. Icke has done a fine job in turning a 20-year-old foreign-language film into gripping West End entertainment. 

Dreaming of a kitsch Christmas? New York’s famous Miracle on Ninth Street bar is popping up in London for its eighth year, ‘50s Christmas decorations, nostalgic accessories and creative new spins on beloved cocktail favourites in tow. For festive season 2026, it’s taking over 9 Russell Street in Covent Garden. Past years have seen the bar slinging the likes of a Snowball Old Fashioned or a Christmapoliton, which includes cranberry sauce and absinthe mist – a take on Christmas trimmings that’s not for the faint-hearted. If you’re failing to get into the Christmas spirit, this is one great place to find it.

A two-and-a-half hour historical epic so good, you almost wish it was twice as long. It wouldn’t be hyperbolic to describe La Bola Negra as both a landmark work belonging to a thrilling new wave of queer cinema and an old-fashioned foreign-language breakout sensation. Written and directed by brilliant Spaniards Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, aka Los Javis, it’s surely Oscars bound. Majorly expanding on Alberto Conejero’s 2015 play The Dark Stone, La Bola Negra (‘the black ball’) spans three timelines. There’s a thread that connects this triptych of tales, and it pays off in swooningly emotional style. Even with Alberto Gutiérrez’s intuitive editing, there’s a lot to take in: hypnotic, Bob Fosse-esque musical sequences, one featuring Penélope Cruz in a platinum blonde wig; panoramic dream sequences; a Spanish-speaking Glenn Close. There’s much that will come into sharper relief on a second viewing. A film as romantic, sensual and visually grand as this doesn’t come along often – an LGBTQ+ masterpiece that speaks to us all about the power of art in times of heartache.  

Nominated for Best Newcomer at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Awards, Freddie Meredith’s Need a Light? is a by all accounts delightful hour of sketch comedy in which Meredith plays a nerdy, wannabe hip loser who spends 60 endearing minutes trying to start conversations with randoms in the smoking area of a club. The show was indeed so successful that Meredith was snapped up by SNL UK shortly after the Fringe, which has necessitated the rescheduling of his Soho run, which promptly sold out

Every year, thousands of professional and amateur photographers around the world submit their best portraits to this prestigious competition (fka The Taylor Wessing Photo Prize), which has helped launch the careers of many top photographers. Around 60 finalists are selected and put on display at the National Portrait Gallery, giving an insight into the lives of friends and family of those behind the lens, or capturing a moment in time with stars in the spotlight. One image from the four finalists will take home the big prize (£15k in prize money...maybe we should enter next year!)

Dive into the world of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian cinema at this annual film fest, which this year is hosted by both Regent Street Cinema and The Garden Cinema. This year’s line-up kicks off with Morten, an Estonian magical realist film about a teenage boy who meets a mysterious bog girl and a street artist. Other screenings include absurdist Lithuanian film Hunger Strike Breakfast, about TV centre employees protesting Soviet forces in 1991, Latvian heist comedy Kingpins, and How To Divorce During the War, which follows a couple splitting up on the eve of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Frankie Thompson’s is known for her out-there satirical collages of video and voice recordings, which she dramatically lip syncs to while serving a series of comical, otherworldly looks. While aspects of new show Horrible Things remain distinctly Frankie Thompson, she now has a voice of her own in this new show. There’s less of an obvious through thread than her other shows, but fundamentally it focusses on men being weird. It’s still unlike anything else you’ll see on the Fringe. It’s a superb show from someone on their way to being a cult comic. 

Known for their hypnotic and deeply physical abstract choreography, Humanhood is back at Sadler’s Wells East this autumn with a new work that’s guaranteed to be as mesmeric as their last. Named as one of SusyQ magazine’s best performances in 2025, in Vortex, the stage becomes the ‘eye of the tornado’. Expect plenty of spiralling and turning as the seven dancers move on stage to a cinematic soundcsape. 

Misty Green is not, as they say, ‘likeable’. Not as a person, and not as a character. A B-list actress who believes she's an A plus, Misty is arrogant, irresponsible, and prone to self-sabotage. But because she's imagined with so much regard by writer-director Chris Rock, and played with so much ferocity by Slow Horses’ Rosalind Eleazar, she is also spectacularly enthralling. We watch Misty Green on the edge of our seats, wondering where she will land even as we can guess at the likeliest trajectory. This isn’t a subtle movie, but it works. Indeed, Rock’s eye for blunt detail provides crucial scaffolding around Eleazar's bravado turn.

Father Christmas clearly enjoys his posh new-ish Chelsea digs as for 2026 he’s returning to Anya Hindmarch’s Village store for the third year on the trot. In it, visitors will be guided through a wintry wonderland of candy cane forests and icicle caves. When they make it to their destination, they’ll be rewarded with a festive story by the fire and a gift from Saint Nick. Grown-ups get a free hot drink from the Anya Cafe, where there will be piles of mince pies, gingerbread men and Christmas cakes on sale. Exit through the gift shop to buy limited-edition Anya Hindmarch gifts and Christmas decorations, including ceramic tree baubles, crackers, puzzles, mugs, crayons and teddy bears. 

Three teenage girls are dancing round their bedroom under flashing rainbow lights, squealing over boys, when everything goes dark and the screaming starts. It’s a jolting opening to a play, and it sets the rhythm for everything that follows in Theresa Ikoko’s Girls. You’re laughing one minute and holding your breath the next. It follows Tisana, Haleema and Ruhab, three best friends taken from their village by militant insurgents. It’s set in Nigeria in 2014, the year Boko Haram abducted 276 schoolgirls. Twelve years on – with around 90 of those girls still believed to be missing – director Ewa Dina brings its first UK revival to the Young Vic’s intimate Maria studio. The final scenes are devastating. As the lights come up, the screens fill with the faces of the real Chibok girls, and nobody seems in any rush to leave.

This major exhibition from the V&A will transport visitors to one of the world’s great cities, exploring its best-known landmarks, from the Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia to Topkapı Palace and the Galata Tower. Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two Empires will explore 1,600 years of this influential city. Once called Constantinople and now called Istanbul, it was the imperial and religious capital at the heart of two successive empires: the Byzantine (AD 330– 1453) and the Ottoman (1453–1922), and this show will span AD 330 to 1922; it will bring together remarkable works of art, design and architecture to reveal the enduring creative legacy of an imperial capital that shaped the Mediterranean world and far beyond. It’s billed as the first exhibition in the UK to tell this story in full. 

With its rooftop terrace offering a front-row seat to St Paul's Cathedral, Madison is the go-to for those who like their dinner with a side of skyline. And also love a sweet deal, because they’re currently offering three courses for £29.50. The seasonal menu starts with cured salmon or creamy burrata, followed by pan-fried salmon with brown shrimp cioppino or a golden chicken Milanese. Finish with pumpkin pie topped with cinnamon ice cream or mulled wine poached plums, for the perfect autumnal feast.

Save 16% with Time Out Offers.

Oxford Street is one of the most iconic areas for London’s Christmas lights, and for good reason, given that a hefty proportion of us Londoners will see them lighting our way as we do battle for Yuletide gifts. This year, the lights are Harry Potter-themed to mark the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone TV show, scheduled to premiere on HBO on Christmas Day. You can watch the big switch-on on Wednesday November 4. Alongside the usual display, look out for the Hogwarts-themed designs. As is now tradition, the lights will be made from eco-friendly materials, including LED lights and recycled plastic. Featuring 5000 twinkling stars – they shine from 4pm to midnight daily until early January. 

Give yourself some proper indulgence at the five-star Courthouse Hotel, with one hour of spa access and your pick of luxe treatment packages (one 50-minute session with two treatments, four-mini treatments, or a 75-minute session with three treatments). You’ll also get complimentary bubbly, and a £10 voucher for any subsequent visits. 

Get up to 74% off with Time Out Offers. Click here for more info.

Korean film is way more than just Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook, supreme though they are. In fact, Korea arguably has one of the world’s most exciting and mercurial film cultures, as proved by this splashy annual festival. Showcased at the BFI Southbank, Ciné Lumière, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and various other prestigious London picture houses, the line-up features 22 films screened across a fortnight, kicking off with Kim Mi-jo’s The Journey to Gyeong-ju (2025), a star-studded crime drama with grieving matriarch Ok-sil (Parasite’s Lee Jung-eun) and her three daughters (Gong Hyo-jin, Park So-dam, Lee Yeon) embarking on a road trip to avenge the murder of the youngest family member, followed by a Q&A with director Kim and actor Lee Jung-eun. The closing gala is the UK Premiere of Park Hoon-jung’s Tristes Tropiques (2025), alongside a Q&A with the filmmaker. Well-known for his gritty and ruthless action dramas, this film is a bloodbath triggered by the death of a kill-squad leader. It won the Nouveau Genre Grand Prize, the top honour in the international competition at the 32nd L’Étrange Festival. 

Every year, thousands of professional and amateur photographers around the world submit their best portraits to this prestigious competition (fka The Taylor Wessing Photo Prize), which has helped launch the careers of many top photographers. Around 60 finalists are selected and put on display at the National Portrait Gallery, giving an insight into the lives of friends and family of those behind the lens, or capturing a moment in time with stars in the spotlight. One image from the four finalists will take home the big prize (£15k in prize money...maybe we should enter next year!)

A month-long feast of contemporary Czech cinema, the Made in Prague Festival is back for its 30th edition with a thrilling selection of high-calibre dramas, comedies, docs and family films, hosted by the Regent Street Cinema and The Garden Cinema. This year’s programme brings together two distinct strands: the first celebrating the legacy of the Czechoslovak New Wave, and the second showcasing a selection of acclaimed new Czech films, all accompanied by live introductions and post-screening discussions.

Agatha Christie is widely regarded as the greatest ever crime novelist, and the Queen of Crime will be under investigation herself during the British Library’s 2026 season. Coinciding with the centenary of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, one of the prolific writer’s most important and influential novels, the autumn exhibition will delve into the origins of iconic characters Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, while also exploring the the eclectic range of interests that inspired the English author’s works, from archaeology to pharmacology, and illustrating the profound impact her ouevre continues to have on the whodunnit genre. 

In Danny Lee Wynter’s new play, based on his own experiences, we’re in a big, busy family home in Ilford – both in 1995 and in 1980. In the 90s, Ted (an impressive stage debut from Leo Whitfield Harris) is an awkward, mixed-race teen trying to work out his place in the world. Wynter’s dialogue feels like it could be lifted straight from a sitcom; we get all the colour and expletives you’d expect from a close-knit family, fractured by clashing personalities and worldviews. Drawing the lines between the people we were in the past and the people we become, Wynter has written something wise, witty and packed with big feelings. 

Poly Styrene, Chrissy Hynde, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Debbie Harry; as part of the city-wide Up Yours! Festival, the Museum of Youth Culture will celebrate the women behind the punk movement with a landmark exhibition. God Save The Queens celebrates the legacy of Poly Styrene, the visionary frontwoman of X-Ray Spex. It will bring together rare and previously unseen artwork, photography, fashion and personal archival material, with highlights including the Poly Styrene Archive, original artworks by radical feminist photographer Linder, previously unseen artwork from X-Ray Spex saxophonist Lora Logic, and archival fashion pieces from the iconic pink-haired designer Dame Zandra Rhodes. 

Jordan Fein’s lavish revival of Sondheim’s subversive fairytale musical Into the Woods spent last year packing out the Bridge and hoovering up Oliviers. Now it’s crossed the river to the Noël Coward with a mostly new cast, and it’s every bit as good. Sondheim and book writer James Lapine throw Cinderella, Jack, Rapunzel and Little Red Riding Hood into the same forest as a childless baker and his wife, asking what happens after ‘happily ever after.’

Kate Fleetwood returns as the Witch, owning every inch of stage, while John Dagleish and Laura Pitt-Pulford are a lovely match as the Baker and his Wife, while Gracie McGonigal is a joy as Little Red Riding Hood, all youthful cockiness, the kind of girl who’d square up to a wolf and fancy her chances. It’s a wordy, fiddly, nearly three-hour musical about fairytales, and somehow it flies by.

Leave the children at home for this salacious ballet. For the past 40 years, Kenneth’s MacMillan’s three-act masterpiece, adapted from Abbé Prévost’s book ‘L’Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut’ has entranced audiences and divided critics.
The late choreographer’s ‘Manon’ has bite. A story of questionable morals – or lack thereof – has all the traits for a rich, dense production full of star-struck lovers, manipulative siblings, hedonistic antics, debauched seduction, shame and murder. The duets are beyond sublime, with statuesque lines and holds that will make you gasp for breath. 

The so-called ‘king of coloured photography’, William Eggleston made his name photographing roadside diners, suburban streets and domestic spaces across the USA, using dye transfer to bring the images to life. Through his striking, pioneering work, it’s easy to get a sense of the alienation, loneliness and desire that perforated the American Dream of the mid-twentieth century. This major exhibition will mark 50 years since his landmark book Willian Eggleston’s Guide was published, displaying some of his most iconic imagery alongside lesser-known deepcuts, including some taken pre-colour.